Jason W. Dean
@jasonwdean.com
FSA
Associate Librarian, Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas
Bibliographer & librarian on the edge of the western prairie.
Website: https://www.jasonwdean.com
Faculty Profile: https://spencer.lib.ku.edu/people/jason-dean
Associate Librarian, Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas
Bibliographer & librarian on the edge of the western prairie.
Website: https://www.jasonwdean.com
Faculty Profile: https://spencer.lib.ku.edu/people/jason-dean
Reposted by Jason W. Dean
Meet the Hinman Collator: a 400-pound bibliographic detective that spots tiny differences between copies of books by rapidly blinking between images. Created by KU's Charlton Hinman in the 1940s, it revolutionized how we study rare books.
📝 rockcha.lk/ksrlblog
📝 rockcha.lk/ksrlblog
January 14, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Meet the Hinman Collator: a 400-pound bibliographic detective that spots tiny differences between copies of books by rapidly blinking between images. Created by KU's Charlton Hinman in the 1940s, it revolutionized how we study rare books.
📝 rockcha.lk/ksrlblog
📝 rockcha.lk/ksrlblog
How many tiaras? Three! It must be... POPE GREGORY IX and his decretals (Printed in Lyon, by Fradin in 1515) (new acquisition here at Spencer / @kulibraries.bsky.social from @quaritch1847.bsky.social) 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks :
January 15, 2026 at 3:28 PM
How many tiaras? Three! It must be... POPE GREGORY IX and his decretals (Printed in Lyon, by Fradin in 1515) (new acquisition here at Spencer / @kulibraries.bsky.social from @quaritch1847.bsky.social) 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks :
Reposted by Jason W. Dean
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'
![You’ve got super fans pausing and zooming in on individuals frames of your documentary. One allegedly shows one of the Duffers with a ChatGPT tab open on their computer. In your presence, what did they use ChatGPT for?
I mean, are we even sure they had ChatGPT open?
I’m personally not, but the internet seems sure.
Well, there’s a lot of chatter where [social media users] are like, “We don’t really know, but we’re assuming.” But to me it’s like, doesn’t everybody have it open, to just do quick research?
I do.
How can you possibly write a storyline with 19 characters and use ChatGPT, I don’t even understand.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7t2urmt3i33jl6tjgiolio6g/bafkreidw2tmcr2ayq74oqmjm5pn2tdox6hlxnpqevhuqqj6oa7nsslx3oi@jpeg)
January 13, 2026 at 8:45 PM
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'
Drop a great pair of eyes from a movie or TV show 👀
January 13, 2026 at 9:39 PM
Drop a great pair of eyes from a movie or TV show 👀
🚨JOB KLAXON🚨 we're seeking a Curator of African American Experience colls here at KU! GREAT colls & colleagues, tenure track, unionized, salary $61,000-$68,000. Not on the committee, but would be a colleague! More info at link!📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks rbms.info/blog/news-ev...
Position Announcement: Curator of African American Experience Collections, University of Kansas
Position Overview Kenneth Spencer Research Library (KSRL) at the University of Kansas (KU) Libraries seeks a creative and collaborative curator for our established and growing African American Expe…
rbms.info
January 13, 2026 at 3:40 PM
🚨JOB KLAXON🚨 we're seeking a Curator of African American Experience colls here at KU! GREAT colls & colleagues, tenure track, unionized, salary $61,000-$68,000. Not on the committee, but would be a colleague! More info at link!📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks rbms.info/blog/news-ev...
Mine and @needrain.bsky.social's post on the Hinman Collator at Spencer / @kulibraries.bsky.social is now live! It was fun to find out more about the origins of the collator, and its purposes. 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky 🗃️ #histtech #histstm blogs.lib.ku.edu/spencer/spec...
Kenneth Spencer Research Library Blog » Charlton Hinman, Optical Collation, and the Big Grey MachineBlog - Kenneth Spencer Research Library - KU Libraries
blogs.lib.ku.edu
January 13, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Mine and @needrain.bsky.social's post on the Hinman Collator at Spencer / @kulibraries.bsky.social is now live! It was fun to find out more about the origins of the collator, and its purposes. 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky 🗃️ #histtech #histstm blogs.lib.ku.edu/spencer/spec...
It's always a little thrilling AND surreal to see your work making a real difference in rare book and market land... 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks #astronomy 🗃️🔭 #histSTM onlineonly.christies.com/s/fine-print...
Il Saggiatore
GALILEI, Galileo (1564-1642). Il Saggiatore. Rome: Giacomo Mascardi, 1623.First edition of Galileo's famous scientific polemic on the nature of observation and scientific knowledge, with the extra hal...
onlineonly.christies.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:58 PM
It's always a little thrilling AND surreal to see your work making a real difference in rare book and market land... 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks #astronomy 🗃️🔭 #histSTM onlineonly.christies.com/s/fine-print...
Proud to have Dine weaving in my personal collection, this recent video about weaving is really great and personal and moving: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWis...
How Navajo Women are Preserving History
YouTube video by PBS Voices
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Proud to have Dine weaving in my personal collection, this recent video about weaving is really great and personal and moving: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWis...
Reposted by Jason W. Dean
I don’t think I’ve posted this here yet, but I have a short reflective essay in the latest PBSA issue devoted to the bibliographic note! Thanks to @jsench.bsky.social and @wynkenhimself.bsky.social for inviting me and editing the piece! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
January 8, 2026 at 6:21 PM
I don’t think I’ve posted this here yet, but I have a short reflective essay in the latest PBSA issue devoted to the bibliographic note! Thanks to @jsench.bsky.social and @wynkenhimself.bsky.social for inviting me and editing the piece! www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10....
just thinking about thos beans
You're not ready for the name of the energy transition specialist at Heat Pump Association UK
January 7, 2026 at 3:46 PM
just thinking about thos beans
Glancing at Current Events, and this line comes to mind: youtu.be/YZuMe5RvxPQ?...
Red October "This business will get out of control..."
YouTube video by Ned Johnson
youtu.be
January 7, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Glancing at Current Events, and this line comes to mind: youtu.be/YZuMe5RvxPQ?...
Reposted by Jason W. Dean
A cataloger at the Morgan on cataloging, book curses, and the need for a controlled vocabulary term so we can describe and find said curses.
📜📚
📜📚
Curses Recast: Finding and Cataloging Book Curses at the Morgan Library & Museum | The Morgan Library & Museum
If you have ever experienced the particular disappointment of lending a book and never getting it back, you may just begin to understand the plight of medieval and early modern librarians and book own...
www.themorgan.org
January 7, 2026 at 2:06 PM
A cataloger at the Morgan on cataloging, book curses, and the need for a controlled vocabulary term so we can describe and find said curses.
📜📚
📜📚
Today is Epiphany/Three Kings day, and to celebrate, @sibyllacumae.bsky.social and I just sent the newest issue of our newsletter, focusing On Astrology. Share, read, enjoy - it's free! 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks #astronomy 🗃️🔭 #histSTM open.substack.com/pub/twohalfs...
On Astrology
Putting the (s?)ass in astrology
open.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:03 PM
Today is Epiphany/Three Kings day, and to celebrate, @sibyllacumae.bsky.social and I just sent the newest issue of our newsletter, focusing On Astrology. Share, read, enjoy - it's free! 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks #astronomy 🗃️🔭 #histSTM open.substack.com/pub/twohalfs...
There are many things I appreciate about my new (ish) job - chief among those things now is that my colleagues take the holiday break very seriously - my inbox is still at zero, right where I left it before break.
January 5, 2026 at 1:50 PM
There are many things I appreciate about my new (ish) job - chief among those things now is that my colleagues take the holiday break very seriously - my inbox is still at zero, right where I left it before break.
Do you enjoy my periodic rantings on Isaac Newton's alchemical citations? If so, take a look at my shiny new article on our improved #TEI encoding system of Newton's citations & what we can learn from some preliminary analyses of the data!
#BookHistory #histsci (tldr in 🧵)
doi.org/10.14434/tc....
#BookHistory #histsci (tldr in 🧵)
doi.org/10.14434/tc....
A Bibliographical Framework for Citation Analysis of Isaac Newton’s Alchemical Manuscripts: Alexandra E. Wingate
| Textual Cultures
doi.org
December 22, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Just me hanging out with a windmill Heidelberg, as one does (at an open house at a local letterpress shop)
December 19, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Just me hanging out with a windmill Heidelberg, as one does (at an open house at a local letterpress shop)
The new issue of Half Sheets is out - really enjoyed @sibyllacumae.bsky.social 's book and utopian thoughts in this issue! Read here, share, and subscribe if you haven't already - it's free! 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks open.substack.com/pub/twohalfs...
On Utopia(s)
or cults by another name?
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 3:19 PM
The new issue of Half Sheets is out - really enjoyed @sibyllacumae.bsky.social 's book and utopian thoughts in this issue! Read here, share, and subscribe if you haven't already - it's free! 📜 #bookhistory #booksky #libsky #rarebooks open.substack.com/pub/twohalfs...
Reposted by Jason W. Dean
I think books are cool
December 12, 2025 at 1:39 PM
I think books are cool
Reposted by Jason W. Dean
Historian focusing on early modern book culture here. I am not sure that feeding a private company with all our past handwritings from archives is a solution or a way forward. Google‘s AI studio is a data trap. #skystorians
Gemini’s ability to read handwritten archival documents has importance beyond the humanities. It opens new frontiers for scientific research and collaboration with the humanities.
foundhistory.org/seeing-old-s...
#ClimateScience #DataScience #Agriculture #Archives #Research #LandGrant #AI
foundhistory.org/seeing-old-s...
#ClimateScience #DataScience #Agriculture #Archives #Research #LandGrant #AI
Seeing Old Science
Gemini’s ability to read handwritten archival documents has importance beyond the humanities
foundhistory.org
December 11, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Historian focusing on early modern book culture here. I am not sure that feeding a private company with all our past handwritings from archives is a solution or a way forward. Google‘s AI studio is a data trap. #skystorians
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
December 8, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
The documentary about Gehry (Sketches of Frank Gehry) has a scene where a colleague presents him with a model and asks him what he thinks. His (paraphrased) answer is still one of my favorites: "Let me look at it for a while and see if it pisses me off."
Gehry transformed modern architecture with exuberant buildings such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim Museum. "I've always been for optimism and architecture not being sad," he said. n.pr/44TlUw2
Frank Gehry, whose designs defied gravity and convention, dies at 96
Gehry transformed modern architecture with exuberant buildings such as the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim Museum. "I've always been for optimism and architecture not being sad," he said.
n.pr
December 5, 2025 at 9:42 PM
The documentary about Gehry (Sketches of Frank Gehry) has a scene where a colleague presents him with a model and asks him what he thinks. His (paraphrased) answer is still one of my favorites: "Let me look at it for a while and see if it pisses me off."
Reposted by Jason W. Dean
Yes the place is a disaster. Senior 'management' again. The failings of institutional management is a constant theme at the moment...
www.thetimes.com/article/ff7a...
www.thetimes.com/article/ff7a...
December 5, 2025 at 9:17 AM
Yes the place is a disaster. Senior 'management' again. The failings of institutional management is a constant theme at the moment...
www.thetimes.com/article/ff7a...
www.thetimes.com/article/ff7a...
My new(ish) colleague, Kate Stewart is SO GOOD with zines and the Wilcox stuff!
Newly ordered zines - self-published, specialized, mini magazines - for the Wilcox Collection of Contemporary Movements have arrived at Spencer Research Library and will soon be available to encounter among the rare and unique items in Spencer's collections.
December 4, 2025 at 7:52 PM
My new(ish) colleague, Kate Stewart is SO GOOD with zines and the Wilcox stuff!